Things that I miss
Probably the thing that I miss most is seeing my niece grow up. I lived with her since her birth until she was around 15 months. Now she’s 18 months old and picking up new words every day and starting to do all sorts of new things. With other people, I can sort of make myself believe that I’m not missing out too much – they’ll be pretty much the same when I go back and I can have good times with them then. With Abigail, I’m missing a part of her life which will never come back, and that’s sad. At the same time though, I recognise that there are sacrifices I have to make to do this work – and not seeing family and friends so frequently is the biggest – but they’re worth making. I want to do this work, and I think it’s where God wants me as well, and there are also many rewards.
It’s not just a decision that impacts me though – it’s impacts my family and friends as well. Except they didn’t get to ‘choose’ me to do this work, they just have to live with the consequences of being without my company on such a regular basis!
Things that I’m grateful for
I’m so grateful that I get on with Benoit. Before I left the UK, how I was going to get on with a 40 odd year old Burundian male who was both my boss and my one housemate was the thing I was most worried about. However, the fact that we get on as well as we do, not getting on each others nerves (that much!) but actually enjoying each other’s company is a continual blessing. My life would be much poorer here without him.
Massive gratitude also to Malcolm and Elizabeth, the Australian couple who live in Kindu and have done for a few years. We have a regular time of Christian fellowship on Sunday evenings, and frequently see each other during the week as well for a meal, a chat, a game or a film. They’re our main social life in Kindu and we may well have gone insane without them. They’re great people, wise, supportive, positive and encouraging. Elizabeth is also a very good cook, and her provisions of lasagne, stew, thai green curry and quiche have been a definite bright spot in our otherwise humdrum tedium of food.
I’m also glad that I really like Kindu. Almost everyone (particularly the people who have never been) seems to have something negative to say about it – it’s hot, there are a lot of mosquitoes, it’s remote and you may get stuck there for weeks on end… Personally, I love Kindu. It’s beautiful (particularly at sunset by the river), small and quiet enough to walk around, has got pretty good roads and lovely people. Yes, it’s expensive, logistically difficult and the social life is a bit restricted, but it’s got things in its favour too! Anyway, I prefer living in Kindu to Goma or elsewhere, and don’t find it too limiting. So hooray for Kindu!
I’m very grateful for the lovely people who send me things in the post. Letters, cards, food and small presents get me excited for days. Thank you!
I’m glad of the opportunity to learn French – it’s still slow progress but I’m gradually understanding more and the team have been patient with my halting attempts.
I’m grateful for our team in Kindu. Even with language and cultural differences in the way, I genuinely like each and every member. They’ve been willing to work with me despite my youth, my newness and my attempts at French.
I’m also grateful for our international team – we’re a diverse bunch but we all try to support each other. There are obviously some people I know better than others - and one person who I haven’t actually met yet – it will be good to spend more time with them at the team retreat and meeting next week. There are also one or two people who I get on with particularly well, and am glad that they’re there to share more with and to be friends as well as team-mates.
I’m glad and proud to be working for Tearfund. I fully believe in Tearfund’s mission, values and approach, and have seen and experienced how this is evident in the practical, working-things-out-on-the-ground stuff. We’re not perfect, but the motivation, support and effort are there and the work is making a difference in people’s lives. During the period from last November to February all opportunities seemed to have closed on me, I didn’t know what options I should be looking at or what decisions to make, yet here I am now, in Congo, working with Tearfund. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be, and I’m so incredibly thankful!
Sunday, 25 July 2010
4 months in
I’ve now been in Congo for 4 months, having left the UK on March 20th. It’s been good, it’s been interesting, it’s been difficult, it’s been rewarding, it’s been tiring – I am glad that I am here.
I was thinking about how the last few months have been gone, and have started writing my thoughts. Hopefully I’ll be able to continue with ‘Things that have made me laugh’, ‘Things that I’ve learned’ etc. as well!
Things that have frustrated me
Communication has been one of the most frustrating things. It’s difficult to get in touch with the other international support staff – if we both even have phone signal than one or other of us is in meetings, have other priorities or they’re busy at one of the other project sites. Then there’s misunderstandings, different agendas, different timescales, emails not being delivered properly, documents being sent late because it’s difficult to transport them and lots of other things that make life more challenging for all of us. The support staff are there to support, but it can sometimes feel that they just make things more complicated – we need to make a quick decision and they’re not available, so we either go ahead and make a decision (and then don’t benefit from their advice and/or risk annoying them) or we hold-up the project which has already been delayed from this-or-that. In return, they have responsibility to make sure that things are done properly, but project sites are late at planning, don’t inform them of things that they need to know, expect them to be at their immediate disposal and don’t allow them to fulfil their jobs properly! We’re all aware of these difficulties, and try to help each other but the demands of the work doesn’t make it any easier.
Occasionally, I have communication difficulties with Benoit, which tend to be from misunderstandings arising from language. Benoit’s very good at English (certainly better than my French!) but he’s not perfect. So he says or explains something, I clarify and it all seems to be clear. Then 5 minutes / 1 day / 2 weeks / 1 month later I notice Benoit saying or doing something contrary to what he had previously said. Once or twice this has been due to a change of plans that I wasn’t aware of, but sometimes Benoit says that he’s never said anything different. But I distinctly remember him stating something different and then get very confused! We think that in those cases Benoit’s never *meant* anything different, but the words used to express that result in me understanding something different. We’ve also had times when we’ve meant exactly the same thing but think the other is disagreeing with us because of how we’re expressing it – fortunately we tend to discover that if we talk a bit more. Hopefully, if I get better at French we can use two languages to cross-check meanings – as opposed to having two languages to get confused in! However, it’s great example of ‘listen to what the other person is trying to say and not what they’re actually saying’. And to be patient whilst doing so!
Another thing that frustrates me slightly is the lack of authority I have. As a Project Support Officer (and as a volunteer), this year is for learning and therefore I don’t (officially) have any responsibility. Whilst I can understand that, it’s also quite annoying as sometimes it can feel like it blocks me from doing my job. For example, Benoit’s asked me to check some budget lines which involves finance in Bukavu, but they won’t respond to my requests (even if Benoit’s copied in and in agreement) because I’m not the budget holder. That stops me from getting on and checking/sorting even small issues and it has to wait for Benoit who’s busy enough already. It then feels that I’m not able to properly help Benoit and take some of the huge workload off his shoulders. We’ve discussed this particular issue, and have now hopefully come up with a process that everyone’s happy with. Another time I’ve felt limited by my lack of authority to sign off requisitions – every purchase has to be signed off (normally three times, once on the requisition, once for the cash advance and once after the expenditure) and this can only be done by Benoit. So one Saturday afternoon, Benoit’s asleep, we’ve run out of water and the Cook has come to me with a request to buy some more. I can’t sign it, I’m not going to wake up Benoit and I’m getting thirsty. So I have to give her my own money. Again, I understand the processes and the reasons for them but I find it somewhat frustrating that I can’t even give permission for someone to buy water. The funny thing is that when Benoit’s away, I’m acting-AC and suddenly my level of authority increases dramatically! However, the responsibility level does as well – as PSO I have no authority but freedom from responsibility. As AC (either to a certain level now whilst acting-AC or in the future) I’ll have freedom to do stuff but will also have the responsibility that goes with it. I remember Margaret Atwood talking about ‘freedom to and freedom from’ in her book ‘The Handmaid’s tale’ (which is one of the only books that I’ve enjoyed more after studying it) and liking the distinction. As time goes on, I think I’ll start chafing at the restrictions and be ready and wanting to take on more responsibility. However, at the moment, with my current level of experience, I think I’m happier as PSO - without the responsibility or the authority!
Things that have shocked me
This would have to be some of the attitudes of the national staff, and of the culture as a whole. How things that I see as dishonest or unbelievable are normal here. People threatening legal action in response to a standard, contractual, necessary procedure. People taking whatever opportunity they can to hold back money for themselves. People wanting to gossip, spread rumours and destroy the reputations of others. Maybe these things are endemic the world over, and I haven’t been exposed to them before on such an endemic basis. Maybe I’ve grown up in an environment where there are enough checks, balances and social norms that curtail their existence. It’s shocking, but the most shocking thing is how normal it is.
I was thinking about how the last few months have been gone, and have started writing my thoughts. Hopefully I’ll be able to continue with ‘Things that have made me laugh’, ‘Things that I’ve learned’ etc. as well!
Things that have frustrated me
Communication has been one of the most frustrating things. It’s difficult to get in touch with the other international support staff – if we both even have phone signal than one or other of us is in meetings, have other priorities or they’re busy at one of the other project sites. Then there’s misunderstandings, different agendas, different timescales, emails not being delivered properly, documents being sent late because it’s difficult to transport them and lots of other things that make life more challenging for all of us. The support staff are there to support, but it can sometimes feel that they just make things more complicated – we need to make a quick decision and they’re not available, so we either go ahead and make a decision (and then don’t benefit from their advice and/or risk annoying them) or we hold-up the project which has already been delayed from this-or-that. In return, they have responsibility to make sure that things are done properly, but project sites are late at planning, don’t inform them of things that they need to know, expect them to be at their immediate disposal and don’t allow them to fulfil their jobs properly! We’re all aware of these difficulties, and try to help each other but the demands of the work doesn’t make it any easier.
Occasionally, I have communication difficulties with Benoit, which tend to be from misunderstandings arising from language. Benoit’s very good at English (certainly better than my French!) but he’s not perfect. So he says or explains something, I clarify and it all seems to be clear. Then 5 minutes / 1 day / 2 weeks / 1 month later I notice Benoit saying or doing something contrary to what he had previously said. Once or twice this has been due to a change of plans that I wasn’t aware of, but sometimes Benoit says that he’s never said anything different. But I distinctly remember him stating something different and then get very confused! We think that in those cases Benoit’s never *meant* anything different, but the words used to express that result in me understanding something different. We’ve also had times when we’ve meant exactly the same thing but think the other is disagreeing with us because of how we’re expressing it – fortunately we tend to discover that if we talk a bit more. Hopefully, if I get better at French we can use two languages to cross-check meanings – as opposed to having two languages to get confused in! However, it’s great example of ‘listen to what the other person is trying to say and not what they’re actually saying’. And to be patient whilst doing so!
Another thing that frustrates me slightly is the lack of authority I have. As a Project Support Officer (and as a volunteer), this year is for learning and therefore I don’t (officially) have any responsibility. Whilst I can understand that, it’s also quite annoying as sometimes it can feel like it blocks me from doing my job. For example, Benoit’s asked me to check some budget lines which involves finance in Bukavu, but they won’t respond to my requests (even if Benoit’s copied in and in agreement) because I’m not the budget holder. That stops me from getting on and checking/sorting even small issues and it has to wait for Benoit who’s busy enough already. It then feels that I’m not able to properly help Benoit and take some of the huge workload off his shoulders. We’ve discussed this particular issue, and have now hopefully come up with a process that everyone’s happy with. Another time I’ve felt limited by my lack of authority to sign off requisitions – every purchase has to be signed off (normally three times, once on the requisition, once for the cash advance and once after the expenditure) and this can only be done by Benoit. So one Saturday afternoon, Benoit’s asleep, we’ve run out of water and the Cook has come to me with a request to buy some more. I can’t sign it, I’m not going to wake up Benoit and I’m getting thirsty. So I have to give her my own money. Again, I understand the processes and the reasons for them but I find it somewhat frustrating that I can’t even give permission for someone to buy water. The funny thing is that when Benoit’s away, I’m acting-AC and suddenly my level of authority increases dramatically! However, the responsibility level does as well – as PSO I have no authority but freedom from responsibility. As AC (either to a certain level now whilst acting-AC or in the future) I’ll have freedom to do stuff but will also have the responsibility that goes with it. I remember Margaret Atwood talking about ‘freedom to and freedom from’ in her book ‘The Handmaid’s tale’ (which is one of the only books that I’ve enjoyed more after studying it) and liking the distinction. As time goes on, I think I’ll start chafing at the restrictions and be ready and wanting to take on more responsibility. However, at the moment, with my current level of experience, I think I’m happier as PSO - without the responsibility or the authority!
Things that have shocked me
This would have to be some of the attitudes of the national staff, and of the culture as a whole. How things that I see as dishonest or unbelievable are normal here. People threatening legal action in response to a standard, contractual, necessary procedure. People taking whatever opportunity they can to hold back money for themselves. People wanting to gossip, spread rumours and destroy the reputations of others. Maybe these things are endemic the world over, and I haven’t been exposed to them before on such an endemic basis. Maybe I’ve grown up in an environment where there are enough checks, balances and social norms that curtail their existence. It’s shocking, but the most shocking thing is how normal it is.
Monday, 12 July 2010
Flight Farce
I have to say, I’m quite amazed that I’m even on R&R at all – we’ve had so many issues with flights this week! It wasn’t until Friday morning that it was confirmed that I was actually able to leave Kindu – about 2 hours before I took the plane. Please see below for a long and detailed explanation about why – seeing how much time it took us to sort out, and how it amused me, I’ll write it in full…. Doesn’t mean you have to read it though.
Normally, we fly on UNHAS and there aren’t any issues at all. They fly on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays between Bukavu, Goma and Kindu, and it’s fairly fixed which direction they go on which day. They may leave a few hours earlier or later each time, but that’s not normally a problem. Last week, because of the 50th celebrations, they weren’t flying at all. We had staff due to come back from their leave (national staff who come from other parts of the country receive entitlement to return home), so that was delayed until the Monday of the next week. Then it turned out that UNHAS weren’t flying on Monday. So we sent our two staff by boat up to Goma (UNHAS fly Goma-Kindu-Bukavu on Wednesdays), but then late on Tues eve we find out they’re not flying then either. The plane had to go to Entebbe for repairs, and until they received authorisation from the Government that it was skyworthy they wouldn’t be flying – no indication of when that might be.
This causes us a few problems. Apart from our two staff stuck now in Goma (which we’re paying their accommodation each night), I’m due to go on leave on Friday, we’ve been trying to get a staff member whose contract is finished on a plane home to Goma (again since independence celebrations), we’ve got 3 new staff who are supposed to be joining us and our HR officer is supposed to be going to Bukavu for briefing
So we start looking at options. CAA is a more expensive commercial airline, they’ve been approved by the UK as a second resort to UNHAS though we have to get permission from the Programme Director before we use them. Busy Bee is an airline, which another British NGO charter on a biweekly basis between the more remote villages, Kindu and Goma. However, permission to use them also has to come from the UK. So we contact our Acting PD, who contacts UK, who came back to us with permission to use both CAA and Busy Bee the next day. Was very impressed with their response actually – I thought it might take longer.
So on Thurs we try and work out what we want to do, which was a nightmare of communication. Our logistician was out in the field trying to set up a sub-base. The main Bukavu logistician who would normally deal with flights was in the process of travelling up to Goma. The other Bukavu logistics person who was covering was inaccessible for most of the day. The other NGO office we needed to ask was in Goma, which then involved the logistician from our Goma base. The HR officer in Bukavu was also involved, and was trying to find out information for my flights on to Uganda despite not knowing if I would be able to leave Kindu or whether it would be Bukavu or Goma I’d fly to. Our storekeeper was also involved in trying to find the schedule from CAA here in Kindu. Benoit was the person who had to make the decisions on all of this. He also ended up having to co-ordinate it, made more difficult by the fact that the phone network was pretty bad. About 4pm on Thurs afternoon we discover that the NGO in Goma was saying that they didn’t have spaces/it wasn’t possible to go with Busy Bee, and that CAA were saying that they were only flying Kindu-Bukavu as opposed to their normal route of Kinshasa-Kindu-Bukavu-Goma-Kindu-Kinshasa. And it’s over double the price of UNHAS. That wasn’t good for much of anything, and we were thinking that it didn’t look like anyone was flying on the Friday when we thought we’d check with a UN friend of ours who works at the airport who told us UNHAS was back up and running! Then we heard from another person that it wasn’t running… and then by another person that it was… Then confirmed that it was. Fantastic! OK, we’d had all that running round after the other airlines for nothing, but it solved all our problems.
Except it didn’t.
When one of the logisticians (what’s the collective term for a group of logisticians I wonder? A load? A bevy? A fleet?) then tried to book our tickets, they were told that the organisation was suspended due to non-payment.
WHAT?! That couldn’t be right… They sent through the email that confirmed that as of today, we were banned people from UNHAS flights due to the non-payment of a ridiculously large figure which is equivalent to about a year’s worth of flying. Obviously, the Bukavu office immediately started looking into this and scanning and sending the payment confirmations to show that we have paid – it’s looking like there was a miscommunication between the Bukavu and Kinshasa UN offices which should be sorted out shortly.
Benoit and I had a good laugh about the fact that news of us being banned people had come through on the same day as all the rest of the flight debacle, adding the pinnacle to what had already been a farce. However, as the timing of my leave is quite important in how it ties in with other events, Benoit rang a couple of people he knows and somehow managed to get me a seat on the chartered flight with the other NGO – one of the advantages of being an international staff member as I don’t think they would have said yes for a national staff member. It wasn’t completely confirmed until Saturday morning, so I had to ask HR in Bukavu to hold off booking my flights to Entebbe until then. It amuses me to think how far in advance people book and plan holidays to Africa – whilst I book my flights the day before!
There was even a struggle getting to the airport. Unfortunately, one of our staff members stuck in Goma is our driver. Normally, we have two drivers but the second hasn’t yet been recruited, as we have to wait for the Fleet Manager to visit and do driving tests with them. We have one casual who is authorised to drive, but he was taking Benoit to Kalima to set up our sub-base (Benoit’s trip had already been delayed because of lack of driver). Our logistician, the other person who can drive, was also at the sub-base. So how was I to get to the airport? In the end, it was arranged for one of the pastors that we know to come and pick me up. He then had to leave, and I was left to wait for the other NGO people to arrive. I almost missed them as well – they had gone straight through to the runway, and it was fortunate that one of their guys came to find me, took my bag, whisked me through the registration, and 5 minutes later we were in the air. Quickest check-in ever!!!
The inside of the Busy Bee plan. Pretty much the same as UNHAS except it's blue and got pictures of bees everywhere.
Landing at Goma. Always fun to fly low over the high streets.
Was up at 5.30am today, to cross the border to Rwanda and drive to Kigali to take the flight to Entebbe. I’d planned to ring a couple of people from Kigali to confirm my Uganda plans, but unfortunately there’s no signal on my DRC mobile and my UK number costs £1.25 a minute to even receive calls. Whilst there was wireless internet, this doesn’t replace being able to talk to people directly, which resulted in some confusion and uncertainty. That is really my fault for not clarifying things when I had the opportunity to, but all’s well that ends well and here I am sitting in a luxurious resort! All the rest of the staff are still stuck but I’ll be glad that I managed to get out. It was very much of a ‘Oh what a circus, oh what a show’ and a complete farce though!
Normally, we fly on UNHAS and there aren’t any issues at all. They fly on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays between Bukavu, Goma and Kindu, and it’s fairly fixed which direction they go on which day. They may leave a few hours earlier or later each time, but that’s not normally a problem. Last week, because of the 50th celebrations, they weren’t flying at all. We had staff due to come back from their leave (national staff who come from other parts of the country receive entitlement to return home), so that was delayed until the Monday of the next week. Then it turned out that UNHAS weren’t flying on Monday. So we sent our two staff by boat up to Goma (UNHAS fly Goma-Kindu-Bukavu on Wednesdays), but then late on Tues eve we find out they’re not flying then either. The plane had to go to Entebbe for repairs, and until they received authorisation from the Government that it was skyworthy they wouldn’t be flying – no indication of when that might be.
This causes us a few problems. Apart from our two staff stuck now in Goma (which we’re paying their accommodation each night), I’m due to go on leave on Friday, we’ve been trying to get a staff member whose contract is finished on a plane home to Goma (again since independence celebrations), we’ve got 3 new staff who are supposed to be joining us and our HR officer is supposed to be going to Bukavu for briefing
So we start looking at options. CAA is a more expensive commercial airline, they’ve been approved by the UK as a second resort to UNHAS though we have to get permission from the Programme Director before we use them. Busy Bee is an airline, which another British NGO charter on a biweekly basis between the more remote villages, Kindu and Goma. However, permission to use them also has to come from the UK. So we contact our Acting PD, who contacts UK, who came back to us with permission to use both CAA and Busy Bee the next day. Was very impressed with their response actually – I thought it might take longer.
So on Thurs we try and work out what we want to do, which was a nightmare of communication. Our logistician was out in the field trying to set up a sub-base. The main Bukavu logistician who would normally deal with flights was in the process of travelling up to Goma. The other Bukavu logistics person who was covering was inaccessible for most of the day. The other NGO office we needed to ask was in Goma, which then involved the logistician from our Goma base. The HR officer in Bukavu was also involved, and was trying to find out information for my flights on to Uganda despite not knowing if I would be able to leave Kindu or whether it would be Bukavu or Goma I’d fly to. Our storekeeper was also involved in trying to find the schedule from CAA here in Kindu. Benoit was the person who had to make the decisions on all of this. He also ended up having to co-ordinate it, made more difficult by the fact that the phone network was pretty bad. About 4pm on Thurs afternoon we discover that the NGO in Goma was saying that they didn’t have spaces/it wasn’t possible to go with Busy Bee, and that CAA were saying that they were only flying Kindu-Bukavu as opposed to their normal route of Kinshasa-Kindu-Bukavu-Goma-Kindu-Kinshasa. And it’s over double the price of UNHAS. That wasn’t good for much of anything, and we were thinking that it didn’t look like anyone was flying on the Friday when we thought we’d check with a UN friend of ours who works at the airport who told us UNHAS was back up and running! Then we heard from another person that it wasn’t running… and then by another person that it was… Then confirmed that it was. Fantastic! OK, we’d had all that running round after the other airlines for nothing, but it solved all our problems.
Except it didn’t.
When one of the logisticians (what’s the collective term for a group of logisticians I wonder? A load? A bevy? A fleet?) then tried to book our tickets, they were told that the organisation was suspended due to non-payment.
WHAT?! That couldn’t be right… They sent through the email that confirmed that as of today, we were banned people from UNHAS flights due to the non-payment of a ridiculously large figure which is equivalent to about a year’s worth of flying. Obviously, the Bukavu office immediately started looking into this and scanning and sending the payment confirmations to show that we have paid – it’s looking like there was a miscommunication between the Bukavu and Kinshasa UN offices which should be sorted out shortly.
Benoit and I had a good laugh about the fact that news of us being banned people had come through on the same day as all the rest of the flight debacle, adding the pinnacle to what had already been a farce. However, as the timing of my leave is quite important in how it ties in with other events, Benoit rang a couple of people he knows and somehow managed to get me a seat on the chartered flight with the other NGO – one of the advantages of being an international staff member as I don’t think they would have said yes for a national staff member. It wasn’t completely confirmed until Saturday morning, so I had to ask HR in Bukavu to hold off booking my flights to Entebbe until then. It amuses me to think how far in advance people book and plan holidays to Africa – whilst I book my flights the day before!
There was even a struggle getting to the airport. Unfortunately, one of our staff members stuck in Goma is our driver. Normally, we have two drivers but the second hasn’t yet been recruited, as we have to wait for the Fleet Manager to visit and do driving tests with them. We have one casual who is authorised to drive, but he was taking Benoit to Kalima to set up our sub-base (Benoit’s trip had already been delayed because of lack of driver). Our logistician, the other person who can drive, was also at the sub-base. So how was I to get to the airport? In the end, it was arranged for one of the pastors that we know to come and pick me up. He then had to leave, and I was left to wait for the other NGO people to arrive. I almost missed them as well – they had gone straight through to the runway, and it was fortunate that one of their guys came to find me, took my bag, whisked me through the registration, and 5 minutes later we were in the air. Quickest check-in ever!!!
The inside of the Busy Bee plan. Pretty much the same as UNHAS except it's blue and got pictures of bees everywhere.
Landing at Goma. Always fun to fly low over the high streets.Was up at 5.30am today, to cross the border to Rwanda and drive to Kigali to take the flight to Entebbe. I’d planned to ring a couple of people from Kigali to confirm my Uganda plans, but unfortunately there’s no signal on my DRC mobile and my UK number costs £1.25 a minute to even receive calls. Whilst there was wireless internet, this doesn’t replace being able to talk to people directly, which resulted in some confusion and uncertainty. That is really my fault for not clarifying things when I had the opportunity to, but all’s well that ends well and here I am sitting in a luxurious resort! All the rest of the staff are still stuck but I’ll be glad that I managed to get out. It was very much of a ‘Oh what a circus, oh what a show’ and a complete farce though!
Luxuriating in Luxury
10th July 2010
I’m writing this from a rather more elegant location than normal – I’m staying in a rather luxurious resort in Uganda (I’m on R&R), courtesy of my sister-in-laws very kind parents. At first when they offered I was rather hesitant, partly because of shyness at accepting their hospitality, but mainly because I felt rather overwhelmed at the idea of all that luxury – somewhat different from Kindu! Also because staying at a resort means that it’s not possible to walk out the front door and have the freedom to go here or there as you choose. However, after arriving at the guesthouse I originally booked in Entebbe (which I went to due to first due to miscommunication) then staying at this resort seemed a lot more appealing. Entebbe was a lot more spread out than I anticipated, which put me off going anywhere, and my room at the guesthouse wasn’t that much nicer than being at Kindu. Whilst I have been marvelling at the luxury here, it’s also been more normal than I expected – it’s ok to walk around in t-shirt and flip-flops! And when I say marvelling at the luxury, I mean things like ‘wow….hot water!!!’ and ‘mmm….pizza’ as well as being shocked at how much water a toilet uses. I was also slightly taken aback at the tarmac roads, painted lines on the road and road signs when I arrived in Rwanda. So you can see why I was worried about feeling overwhelmed by a luxury resort – fortunately, it’s fairly normal here and it’s ok to meander around in t-shirts and flip-flops. I’m still getting used to summoning over a waiter with a flick of my hand, ready to cater to my every need…. I haven’t found it particularly hard to adjust, though I did find myself boiling water with the kettle and cooling it rather than using the water bottles placed in the mini-bar…and it’s obviously been far too long since I’ve had a shower as I got confused with what to do with one of those non-slip shower mats that you place in the bath – I thought you were supposed to put it on the floor to dry yourself on… I only remembered after my shower what it was!!!
I even ordered Room Service for the first time ever. Most of the time I don’t stay in places with room service, and in those that I have it wouldn’t really cross my mind to get someone to bring me food. But as I’m staying in this rather luxurious resort, the restaurant’s a long way away, I was up at 5.30am and don’t feel like dressing up to go there, I decided to order a chicken tikka pizza and a lemon cheesecake. Sound good or what?! And it arrived as well… 20 minutes later there’s a smartly dressed waiter at my door with a lovely meal under one of those metal things to keep them hot.
Look! Tarmac roads! With white lines!!! OK, in the UK, unlike Rwanda, you wouldn't have all the people walking by the side of the road carrying very heavy things in their head... We saw a couple of people carrying a huge basketful of carrots on their head - don't they know how heavy they are?!
Tis my first time visiting Uganda, it has the ‘African’ feel to it, but is obviously a lot more developed than Congo, or even Rwanda. You can see as you drive along that there are things like playgrounds, a lot more vehicles etc. (Note: added 12/7/10 – doesn’t mean it’s any safer though; you probably saw on the news about the explosions in the Rugby club/restaurant. Horrible. Don’t have particularly good associations with the World Cup – people were watching matches when the oil tanker exploded in Sange in DRC (a village our Tearfund team in Uvira have been working in) and also now in Uganda).
Lots of birds around. No idea what they are but they're pretty strange.
Thinking about being here made me wonder how many countries I’ve been to. I think I make it 26, which seems a lot, but then you remember there’s 195 countries in the world and suddenly it doesn’t seem that many.
Something that I managed to do which I’ve never done before was to ride in an aeroplane cockpit. I’ve got close on the UNHAS plane (mainly because the plane’s so small you’re almost in the cockpit) but not on a proper big plane. I was flying from Kigali to Entebbe, and as I was going to the toilet the door to the cockpit was open so I said hello to the pilot and exchanged a few words with him. Went to the loo, and as I came out he invited me to come and say hello to the other pilot. So I did, and then they told me to sit down, stick on a seatbelt and there I stayed until we arrived at Entebbe. The landing is so cool! During the flight itself, the pilots just have to sit and relax after they’ve set the plane on it’s course. Each air company has it’s own flight route, and then planes going in one direction are at odd altitudes (e.g. 17,000 ft) and planes going to the other way are at even altitudes (e.g. 18,000ft). For landing, they set a limit for the plane altitude, then dip the nose and we start heading down. After radio contact (which thankfully is a lot clearer signal than some of our VHF and HR radios are!) they confirm whether they’re going to do a visual landing or not. Apart from the last minute or two, they don’t even use the steering wheel/joystick things to steer – there’s a little knob that they set to change the angle. Things are quite calm and focussed, and it looks easier than I thought it might be to actually do the visual landing bit – the plane is under very precise control. Then they have their checklist for each of the different sections which they check off to make sure they’ve done everything they need to. I’d always thought that there would be one pilot ‘flying’ the plane, and the other sitting by, so they didn’t get confused. However, they worked together as a team, saying what they were doing and neither person was the ‘main’ pilot. I really enjoyed it, and was quite chuffed that I got to do it!
And the compulsory pictures of sunsets...
I’m writing this from a rather more elegant location than normal – I’m staying in a rather luxurious resort in Uganda (I’m on R&R), courtesy of my sister-in-laws very kind parents. At first when they offered I was rather hesitant, partly because of shyness at accepting their hospitality, but mainly because I felt rather overwhelmed at the idea of all that luxury – somewhat different from Kindu! Also because staying at a resort means that it’s not possible to walk out the front door and have the freedom to go here or there as you choose. However, after arriving at the guesthouse I originally booked in Entebbe (which I went to due to first due to miscommunication) then staying at this resort seemed a lot more appealing. Entebbe was a lot more spread out than I anticipated, which put me off going anywhere, and my room at the guesthouse wasn’t that much nicer than being at Kindu. Whilst I have been marvelling at the luxury here, it’s also been more normal than I expected – it’s ok to walk around in t-shirt and flip-flops! And when I say marvelling at the luxury, I mean things like ‘wow….hot water!!!’ and ‘mmm….pizza’ as well as being shocked at how much water a toilet uses. I was also slightly taken aback at the tarmac roads, painted lines on the road and road signs when I arrived in Rwanda. So you can see why I was worried about feeling overwhelmed by a luxury resort – fortunately, it’s fairly normal here and it’s ok to meander around in t-shirts and flip-flops. I’m still getting used to summoning over a waiter with a flick of my hand, ready to cater to my every need…. I haven’t found it particularly hard to adjust, though I did find myself boiling water with the kettle and cooling it rather than using the water bottles placed in the mini-bar…and it’s obviously been far too long since I’ve had a shower as I got confused with what to do with one of those non-slip shower mats that you place in the bath – I thought you were supposed to put it on the floor to dry yourself on… I only remembered after my shower what it was!!!
I even ordered Room Service for the first time ever. Most of the time I don’t stay in places with room service, and in those that I have it wouldn’t really cross my mind to get someone to bring me food. But as I’m staying in this rather luxurious resort, the restaurant’s a long way away, I was up at 5.30am and don’t feel like dressing up to go there, I decided to order a chicken tikka pizza and a lemon cheesecake. Sound good or what?! And it arrived as well… 20 minutes later there’s a smartly dressed waiter at my door with a lovely meal under one of those metal things to keep them hot.
Look! Tarmac roads! With white lines!!! OK, in the UK, unlike Rwanda, you wouldn't have all the people walking by the side of the road carrying very heavy things in their head... We saw a couple of people carrying a huge basketful of carrots on their head - don't they know how heavy they are?!
Tis my first time visiting Uganda, it has the ‘African’ feel to it, but is obviously a lot more developed than Congo, or even Rwanda. You can see as you drive along that there are things like playgrounds, a lot more vehicles etc. (Note: added 12/7/10 – doesn’t mean it’s any safer though; you probably saw on the news about the explosions in the Rugby club/restaurant. Horrible. Don’t have particularly good associations with the World Cup – people were watching matches when the oil tanker exploded in Sange in DRC (a village our Tearfund team in Uvira have been working in) and also now in Uganda).
Lots of birds around. No idea what they are but they're pretty strange.
Thinking about being here made me wonder how many countries I’ve been to. I think I make it 26, which seems a lot, but then you remember there’s 195 countries in the world and suddenly it doesn’t seem that many.
Something that I managed to do which I’ve never done before was to ride in an aeroplane cockpit. I’ve got close on the UNHAS plane (mainly because the plane’s so small you’re almost in the cockpit) but not on a proper big plane. I was flying from Kigali to Entebbe, and as I was going to the toilet the door to the cockpit was open so I said hello to the pilot and exchanged a few words with him. Went to the loo, and as I came out he invited me to come and say hello to the other pilot. So I did, and then they told me to sit down, stick on a seatbelt and there I stayed until we arrived at Entebbe. The landing is so cool! During the flight itself, the pilots just have to sit and relax after they’ve set the plane on it’s course. Each air company has it’s own flight route, and then planes going in one direction are at odd altitudes (e.g. 17,000 ft) and planes going to the other way are at even altitudes (e.g. 18,000ft). For landing, they set a limit for the plane altitude, then dip the nose and we start heading down. After radio contact (which thankfully is a lot clearer signal than some of our VHF and HR radios are!) they confirm whether they’re going to do a visual landing or not. Apart from the last minute or two, they don’t even use the steering wheel/joystick things to steer – there’s a little knob that they set to change the angle. Things are quite calm and focussed, and it looks easier than I thought it might be to actually do the visual landing bit – the plane is under very precise control. Then they have their checklist for each of the different sections which they check off to make sure they’ve done everything they need to. I’d always thought that there would be one pilot ‘flying’ the plane, and the other sitting by, so they didn’t get confused. However, they worked together as a team, saying what they were doing and neither person was the ‘main’ pilot. I really enjoyed it, and was quite chuffed that I got to do it!
And the compulsory pictures of sunsets...
Monday, 28 June 2010
Great Lakes
Burundi is having elections today for their President. It's uncontested - and turnout is low. Opposition was encouraging people to boycott the polls. (By the way, did you know that voting is compulsory in Australia? It means that there's a much higher level of political awareness, though some wonder about how democratic it is to force people to vote.
Things in Rwanda are looking fairly tense at the moment. A journalist has just been killed, and many think it's because he was looking too closely into the death of a former army chief a few weeks before. There's concern about intimidation of the media in the run up to Presidential elections in August.
Congo is celebrating its 50th anniversary of Independence on Weds. The President has called a holiday tomorrow afternoon, Weds and Thurs, so it'll be nice and quiet in the office.
Things in Rwanda are looking fairly tense at the moment. A journalist has just been killed, and many think it's because he was looking too closely into the death of a former army chief a few weeks before. There's concern about intimidation of the media in the run up to Presidential elections in August.
Congo is celebrating its 50th anniversary of Independence on Weds. The President has called a holiday tomorrow afternoon, Weds and Thurs, so it'll be nice and quiet in the office.
Friday, 25 June 2010
Ephesians
22nd June
Hmm… Haven’t been amazing at updating my blog recently. However, I’ll blame that on the lack of internet access we’ve had. The internet tends to be dependent on the electricity, and when a tree falls on the line somewhere, it tends to be off for a few days. However, due in large part, I suspect, because of the necessity of having electricity to watch the World Cup, the repairs were done remarkably speedily.
In our Fellowship group on Sunday night, we’ve been looking at Ephesians, which has been really interesting. There’s a lot in there about turning from your old way of life and taking on a new way of life. There’s quite an emphasis on truthfulness, which I’ve always taken as being quite a given for anyone, let alone Christians. Yet being in Congo has casted a new light on reading this passage. I think that in the UK we sometimes take for granted our Christian heritage, and what that has meant for the standards and norms in our society. In Congo, truthfulness is not something that is rooted in the society. There’s a general attitude of ‘I’ll say what I need to in order to improve my life’, which, as you can imagine, has quite a wide impact! For example, on CVs people will write what they think the employer wants to hear, not necessarily their experience, and create certificates to back it up. If discovered and challenged, e.g. at an interview, then the response is bemusement that you even have to ask - ‘well how else was I going to get the job?’ In reporting what work has been done or how much something costs, it’s really hard to know whether the person is actually telling you what’s happened or telling you what he thinks will work out best for him. That’s quite cynical, I know, but when you know that it happens it’s difficult to know what you can trust the person or not.
If this was happening in the UK, the people would (hopefully!) quickly learn that ‘creative’ reporting just isn’t done. And if people lied, it would be assumed to be deliberate dishonesty. However, because lying is not widely perceived as dishonest in Congo, it’s difficult to determine their motivations, their awareness that it’s not acceptable, or their character. Tearfund are very clear in our inductions, briefings and processes but you can’t overcome deeply engrained habits of a lifetime that quickly! Not that we’ve had major issues here, but I am aware of how much we expect from our staff in terms of standard of behaviour. It’s reasonable, and necessary (and the norm in the UK), but as an employer I think we’re seen as very demanding! In some ways, it feels as if we shouldn’t be coming into another culture and imposing our own expectations and norms. However, I also feel that things like truth are vital in building a strong society, and that part of our role in being here is not only help 4,500 households increase their agricultural production but to model working with professionalism and integrity.
To return to Ephesians and the emphasis on a change of life and behaviour once you know Christ… I think a lot of people (UK, Congo and anywhere else) see becoming a Christian as a one-off thing – ‘ok, I’ve believed in Jesus, had my sins forgiven, done and finished’. However, Jesus talks about following him, loving him, obeying him – all continuous actions in the present tense. And if we’re living for him that’s got to result in a change our attitudes and behaviour. I believe that some of this comes about naturally, without our design, simply as a result of asking God to work in us. Other things require a recognition that this or that behaviour is not consistent with living for Jesus, and a determination of will that we’re wanting to change (God can then give us a measure of strength to help). If things are so deeply engrained in society, then recognising that a certain behaviour or attitude is harmful is very difficult. I think it’s possible for anyone, through reading and reflecting on the Bible, our behaviour, and the consequences of our actions, as well as spending time with God. However, most people don’t do this and the behaviour continues.
Apart from things like untruthfulness, as mentioned earlier, sexual immorality is also something that’s so engrained in the culture that people don’t even question it. Our friends who teach at the Bible School have described how they teach on sexual purity and highlight all the passages on being faithful to your spouse. For the majority of students, this is the first time that they’ve realised that their behaviour is contrary to the Bible. Cue questions such as ‘that only applies if my wife is well, right?’ or ‘how long does it mean for – after 2 weeks away from home that no longer applies I assume?’ of ‘how do you expect us to go for a whole term without having sex?’ Quite a challenge for them… And if this is true for students at a Bible school, imagine how much more it’s true for the general population. Apparently most of the students do go away and recognise that if they do want to be wholesale for Christ they will have to change their behaviour.
Maybe you’re reading this thinking ‘Christianity shouldn’t be enforcing their own narrow ideas of behaviour on people’. I agree, to an extent – I have no right to enforce my standards of behaviour or ‘what the Bible says’ on another person, though if I can see that someone’s behaviour is harming themselves or others I am going to care about their well-being. But if somebody is actively professing to worship Christ, then I think they have a responsibility to reflect on any behaviour that they discover may not be what Christ wants for them. If, after investigating, reading, spending time with God etc. they come to the conclusion that it is contrary to following Christ then they also have a responsibility to change. Maybe they reflect and decide that actually the behaviour is fine – that may well be true, though I’d also be cautious of how strongly our self-interest can want that to be the case. This is the advantage of having others around us who we trust – they tend to be a more neutral third party!
Paul was a Jew, brought up in a culture where the laws of the land encouraged truthfulness. He was writing to the Ephesians, a culture which hadn’t been based on such norms, which meant it was necessary to write what he did (Whereas when he writes to the Jews it often tends to be about their legalism and lack of grace). I wonder if he found it as surprising as I do to look at the culture and realise that the things he had previously taken for granted were not actually givens. Being here has given me an added appreciation of Ephesians, and a greater understanding into the importance of the things he was writing. Maybe I find it more obviously applicable to the culture here, where there are stark differences. But living in another culture also reveals the deficits in your own – which you haven’t noticed because you’ve always grown up with them and you don’t know anything different. For example, take “Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes or daily food, and you say ‘go, I wish you well’ but do nothing about his physical needs – what good is it?” (James). Africans would be (and are) horrified by our lack of hospitality and lack of community and regard for family. Let’s not deceive ourselves into believing that we’re a civilised society without fault!
So read Ephesians (all of it, but particularly chapters 4 & 5) and reflect on what it really means to put off our old self and ‘live as children of the light’…..
Hmm… Haven’t been amazing at updating my blog recently. However, I’ll blame that on the lack of internet access we’ve had. The internet tends to be dependent on the electricity, and when a tree falls on the line somewhere, it tends to be off for a few days. However, due in large part, I suspect, because of the necessity of having electricity to watch the World Cup, the repairs were done remarkably speedily.
In our Fellowship group on Sunday night, we’ve been looking at Ephesians, which has been really interesting. There’s a lot in there about turning from your old way of life and taking on a new way of life. There’s quite an emphasis on truthfulness, which I’ve always taken as being quite a given for anyone, let alone Christians. Yet being in Congo has casted a new light on reading this passage. I think that in the UK we sometimes take for granted our Christian heritage, and what that has meant for the standards and norms in our society. In Congo, truthfulness is not something that is rooted in the society. There’s a general attitude of ‘I’ll say what I need to in order to improve my life’, which, as you can imagine, has quite a wide impact! For example, on CVs people will write what they think the employer wants to hear, not necessarily their experience, and create certificates to back it up. If discovered and challenged, e.g. at an interview, then the response is bemusement that you even have to ask - ‘well how else was I going to get the job?’ In reporting what work has been done or how much something costs, it’s really hard to know whether the person is actually telling you what’s happened or telling you what he thinks will work out best for him. That’s quite cynical, I know, but when you know that it happens it’s difficult to know what you can trust the person or not.
If this was happening in the UK, the people would (hopefully!) quickly learn that ‘creative’ reporting just isn’t done. And if people lied, it would be assumed to be deliberate dishonesty. However, because lying is not widely perceived as dishonest in Congo, it’s difficult to determine their motivations, their awareness that it’s not acceptable, or their character. Tearfund are very clear in our inductions, briefings and processes but you can’t overcome deeply engrained habits of a lifetime that quickly! Not that we’ve had major issues here, but I am aware of how much we expect from our staff in terms of standard of behaviour. It’s reasonable, and necessary (and the norm in the UK), but as an employer I think we’re seen as very demanding! In some ways, it feels as if we shouldn’t be coming into another culture and imposing our own expectations and norms. However, I also feel that things like truth are vital in building a strong society, and that part of our role in being here is not only help 4,500 households increase their agricultural production but to model working with professionalism and integrity.
To return to Ephesians and the emphasis on a change of life and behaviour once you know Christ… I think a lot of people (UK, Congo and anywhere else) see becoming a Christian as a one-off thing – ‘ok, I’ve believed in Jesus, had my sins forgiven, done and finished’. However, Jesus talks about following him, loving him, obeying him – all continuous actions in the present tense. And if we’re living for him that’s got to result in a change our attitudes and behaviour. I believe that some of this comes about naturally, without our design, simply as a result of asking God to work in us. Other things require a recognition that this or that behaviour is not consistent with living for Jesus, and a determination of will that we’re wanting to change (God can then give us a measure of strength to help). If things are so deeply engrained in society, then recognising that a certain behaviour or attitude is harmful is very difficult. I think it’s possible for anyone, through reading and reflecting on the Bible, our behaviour, and the consequences of our actions, as well as spending time with God. However, most people don’t do this and the behaviour continues.
Apart from things like untruthfulness, as mentioned earlier, sexual immorality is also something that’s so engrained in the culture that people don’t even question it. Our friends who teach at the Bible School have described how they teach on sexual purity and highlight all the passages on being faithful to your spouse. For the majority of students, this is the first time that they’ve realised that their behaviour is contrary to the Bible. Cue questions such as ‘that only applies if my wife is well, right?’ or ‘how long does it mean for – after 2 weeks away from home that no longer applies I assume?’ of ‘how do you expect us to go for a whole term without having sex?’ Quite a challenge for them… And if this is true for students at a Bible school, imagine how much more it’s true for the general population. Apparently most of the students do go away and recognise that if they do want to be wholesale for Christ they will have to change their behaviour.
Maybe you’re reading this thinking ‘Christianity shouldn’t be enforcing their own narrow ideas of behaviour on people’. I agree, to an extent – I have no right to enforce my standards of behaviour or ‘what the Bible says’ on another person, though if I can see that someone’s behaviour is harming themselves or others I am going to care about their well-being. But if somebody is actively professing to worship Christ, then I think they have a responsibility to reflect on any behaviour that they discover may not be what Christ wants for them. If, after investigating, reading, spending time with God etc. they come to the conclusion that it is contrary to following Christ then they also have a responsibility to change. Maybe they reflect and decide that actually the behaviour is fine – that may well be true, though I’d also be cautious of how strongly our self-interest can want that to be the case. This is the advantage of having others around us who we trust – they tend to be a more neutral third party!
Paul was a Jew, brought up in a culture where the laws of the land encouraged truthfulness. He was writing to the Ephesians, a culture which hadn’t been based on such norms, which meant it was necessary to write what he did (Whereas when he writes to the Jews it often tends to be about their legalism and lack of grace). I wonder if he found it as surprising as I do to look at the culture and realise that the things he had previously taken for granted were not actually givens. Being here has given me an added appreciation of Ephesians, and a greater understanding into the importance of the things he was writing. Maybe I find it more obviously applicable to the culture here, where there are stark differences. But living in another culture also reveals the deficits in your own – which you haven’t noticed because you’ve always grown up with them and you don’t know anything different. For example, take “Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes or daily food, and you say ‘go, I wish you well’ but do nothing about his physical needs – what good is it?” (James). Africans would be (and are) horrified by our lack of hospitality and lack of community and regard for family. Let’s not deceive ourselves into believing that we’re a civilised society without fault!
So read Ephesians (all of it, but particularly chapters 4 & 5) and reflect on what it really means to put off our old self and ‘live as children of the light’…..
Back in Kindu... a long time ago
12th June 2010
I’m now back in Kindu, and have been for a week. Ended up having 2 weeks in Bukavu for training, R&R (rest and relaxation) and then some work which was easier to do there than here. It was really good to have a change of scene – and I particularly enjoyed the luxurious food. I even got to eat pizza! My passport was still in Kinshasa getting it’s work permit (I understand it’s back now) which meant that I couldn’t exit the country for my R&R. I didn’t actually mind too much – I was happy to stay in Bukavu and not deal with all the stresses of travel and trying to get used to a new place. Bukavu is by the lake and I spent most of my afternoons on a patch of grass reading, and then watching the sunset over the lake and the mountains. I was definitely ready for my R&R – I knew I needed a break but it’s only when you stop that you realise quite how much. For the first day or two I felt really drained, both emotionally and physically, and not at all sociable. Enjoyed the break, and returning to work, though it was a definite shock to the system having to get up at 7.30 again…
The return to Kindu amused me somewhat. We normally can only fly to Kindu from Bukavu on Mondays and Fridays. However, the flight was delayed from Friday to Saturday this particular week because there was a big UNHAS (United Nations Humanitarian Air Services, or something like that, which is who we fly with) meeting down in Kinshasa to discuss the future of MONUC in Congo – you may have seen on the news that there’s been a decision to reduce by 2,000 the number of UN personnel in the country. Don’t yet know if that’s going to be impacting Maniema at all. Anyway, Benoit and I, along with one of the logistics guys, drive to the airport on Saturday morning. We haven’t left enough time according to the time we believe we’re leaving (left the house at 8.40, 45 minute drive, flight at 10.30, supposed to be there 2 hours before… you do the maths) but it turned out not to matter. We lugged out our bags (and box of food…and plastic bag of bread….) and sat in the waiting room along with 12 Egyptian UN soldiers. After waiting a long time for our logs guy to come back after finding out what happened, and no-one else around, we decided we may as well do some work, and got started on my probation appraisal. One official comes by but looks doubtful that there’s any plane to Kindu. The Egyptian soldiers leave on another flight. Then suddenly we’re ushered through the bag check/weighing/check in and left in a bigger waiting room. We get started on my appraisal again. 40 Egyptian UN soldiers come trooping in and sit down. Two minutes later it turns out they’re in the wrong place and troop back out again. Someone comes and tells us that our flights arrived. Benoit and I hop into the back of a landrover, where we find our luggage, and drive out to the plane. Except it’s not our plane – it’s going to Kalembie instead. We get told that we’re the only two people travelling to Kindu today, so we’ll have to wait and find out if there will be a flight. Back we go to the waiting room, and restart the appraisal. Then a cleaning lady comes and asks us to sit outside. We move outside and restart the appraisal. And finally, we get told that our plane (the actual one this time) has arrived – there are 4 others on board who have come from Goma – and we fly to Kindu. United Nations organisation strikes again….
You may be interested to know that we continued my appraisal on Mon evening down at Vero beach, having a drink by the waterside. But then we had to leave because we had to be back before curfew (more on that below). So we restarted my appraisal back here, and pretty much finished, but we’ll probably need a seventh session to finalise objectives. The good news is that I’ve passed my probation and am allowed to stay…
For the past week or so, there’s been a curfew at 7pm. Apart from the case above, it hasn’t particularly impacted us, and it finishes tomorrow. The reason was the election of Maniema Province’s new Governor. The last Governor was really unpopular with people, and basically got chased from town. It took a couple of months of him pleading his case down in Kinshasa, but eventually he got removed from his post and there were celebrations on the streets of Kindu. Yesterday, elections took place for the new Governor. There were two candidates, one of whom is a businessman friend of Kabila. The President of Congo came to Kindu personally to show his support – Benoit and I were having a couple of minutes break after lunch and wondered what all the noise was outside, there was so much cheering and singing (far more tuneful than in the UK). Then a large cavalcade of cars when past our front door, and we learned that Kabila was in town. Didn’t actually get to see him though. Anyway, the vote was taken by the Parliament in Kinshasa, and the favourite candidate was elected. It will be interesting to see whether having a Governor makes a noticeable difference in Maniema – there hasn’t been someone in post since I arrived.
I’ve found the past week quite difficult. I think part of it was returning to Kindu after a couple of weeks in Bukavu, and finding the food quite unappetising in comparison. I’ve also had low energy and been quite tired (which may be linked to the fact that I haven’t eaten quite as much as normal) which has meant that I’ve struggled to find the motivation to work. We’ve also had issues within the team – some rumours going around which have caused friction in relationships, and some work that was not done properly (but very creatively…) which has meant a lot of time re-doing the work and investigating what happened. We’ve got to the bottom of it now, but it hasn’t been particularly pleasant, and my first (but probably not my last) experience here of being disappointed by a staff member that I thought was trustworthy. We’ve now managed to redo all the work, but it’s delayed us by about a week, when we’re already really busy doing recruitment (still). And in recruitment we have to walk the line between recruiting people locally (who may not have the capacity needed) and recruiting people from outside Maniema (which may not go down well with the rest of the team / local population. So likely to have some difficult decisions in the week ahead as well.
Time to go to bed I think. Benoit is watching the Germany vs Australia match – he tells me that I’m going to be seeing quite a lot of football in the next couple of weeks. Apparently there’s some big competition on or something.
Addition: 24th June – still haven’t had a chance to post this. Still finding the food unappetising (though Elizabeth cooked a lasagne on Sunday which was AMAZING) but have recovered some of my energy. Decisions to do with staff issues have been quite difficult, but a decision (which I believe is right) has been taken and the situation can be finished with. Am glad that I’m only in a support position at the moment – I can practice separating my emotions from my ‘head’!
Addition: 25th June – I went to the internet café yesterday and was just about to post this when the electricity went. So I’ve come again, and I’d just opened up google when the electricity went. I’ll contact you all some time….
I’m now back in Kindu, and have been for a week. Ended up having 2 weeks in Bukavu for training, R&R (rest and relaxation) and then some work which was easier to do there than here. It was really good to have a change of scene – and I particularly enjoyed the luxurious food. I even got to eat pizza! My passport was still in Kinshasa getting it’s work permit (I understand it’s back now) which meant that I couldn’t exit the country for my R&R. I didn’t actually mind too much – I was happy to stay in Bukavu and not deal with all the stresses of travel and trying to get used to a new place. Bukavu is by the lake and I spent most of my afternoons on a patch of grass reading, and then watching the sunset over the lake and the mountains. I was definitely ready for my R&R – I knew I needed a break but it’s only when you stop that you realise quite how much. For the first day or two I felt really drained, both emotionally and physically, and not at all sociable. Enjoyed the break, and returning to work, though it was a definite shock to the system having to get up at 7.30 again…
The return to Kindu amused me somewhat. We normally can only fly to Kindu from Bukavu on Mondays and Fridays. However, the flight was delayed from Friday to Saturday this particular week because there was a big UNHAS (United Nations Humanitarian Air Services, or something like that, which is who we fly with) meeting down in Kinshasa to discuss the future of MONUC in Congo – you may have seen on the news that there’s been a decision to reduce by 2,000 the number of UN personnel in the country. Don’t yet know if that’s going to be impacting Maniema at all. Anyway, Benoit and I, along with one of the logistics guys, drive to the airport on Saturday morning. We haven’t left enough time according to the time we believe we’re leaving (left the house at 8.40, 45 minute drive, flight at 10.30, supposed to be there 2 hours before… you do the maths) but it turned out not to matter. We lugged out our bags (and box of food…and plastic bag of bread….) and sat in the waiting room along with 12 Egyptian UN soldiers. After waiting a long time for our logs guy to come back after finding out what happened, and no-one else around, we decided we may as well do some work, and got started on my probation appraisal. One official comes by but looks doubtful that there’s any plane to Kindu. The Egyptian soldiers leave on another flight. Then suddenly we’re ushered through the bag check/weighing/check in and left in a bigger waiting room. We get started on my appraisal again. 40 Egyptian UN soldiers come trooping in and sit down. Two minutes later it turns out they’re in the wrong place and troop back out again. Someone comes and tells us that our flights arrived. Benoit and I hop into the back of a landrover, where we find our luggage, and drive out to the plane. Except it’s not our plane – it’s going to Kalembie instead. We get told that we’re the only two people travelling to Kindu today, so we’ll have to wait and find out if there will be a flight. Back we go to the waiting room, and restart the appraisal. Then a cleaning lady comes and asks us to sit outside. We move outside and restart the appraisal. And finally, we get told that our plane (the actual one this time) has arrived – there are 4 others on board who have come from Goma – and we fly to Kindu. United Nations organisation strikes again….
You may be interested to know that we continued my appraisal on Mon evening down at Vero beach, having a drink by the waterside. But then we had to leave because we had to be back before curfew (more on that below). So we restarted my appraisal back here, and pretty much finished, but we’ll probably need a seventh session to finalise objectives. The good news is that I’ve passed my probation and am allowed to stay…
For the past week or so, there’s been a curfew at 7pm. Apart from the case above, it hasn’t particularly impacted us, and it finishes tomorrow. The reason was the election of Maniema Province’s new Governor. The last Governor was really unpopular with people, and basically got chased from town. It took a couple of months of him pleading his case down in Kinshasa, but eventually he got removed from his post and there were celebrations on the streets of Kindu. Yesterday, elections took place for the new Governor. There were two candidates, one of whom is a businessman friend of Kabila. The President of Congo came to Kindu personally to show his support – Benoit and I were having a couple of minutes break after lunch and wondered what all the noise was outside, there was so much cheering and singing (far more tuneful than in the UK). Then a large cavalcade of cars when past our front door, and we learned that Kabila was in town. Didn’t actually get to see him though. Anyway, the vote was taken by the Parliament in Kinshasa, and the favourite candidate was elected. It will be interesting to see whether having a Governor makes a noticeable difference in Maniema – there hasn’t been someone in post since I arrived.
I’ve found the past week quite difficult. I think part of it was returning to Kindu after a couple of weeks in Bukavu, and finding the food quite unappetising in comparison. I’ve also had low energy and been quite tired (which may be linked to the fact that I haven’t eaten quite as much as normal) which has meant that I’ve struggled to find the motivation to work. We’ve also had issues within the team – some rumours going around which have caused friction in relationships, and some work that was not done properly (but very creatively…) which has meant a lot of time re-doing the work and investigating what happened. We’ve got to the bottom of it now, but it hasn’t been particularly pleasant, and my first (but probably not my last) experience here of being disappointed by a staff member that I thought was trustworthy. We’ve now managed to redo all the work, but it’s delayed us by about a week, when we’re already really busy doing recruitment (still). And in recruitment we have to walk the line between recruiting people locally (who may not have the capacity needed) and recruiting people from outside Maniema (which may not go down well with the rest of the team / local population. So likely to have some difficult decisions in the week ahead as well.
Time to go to bed I think. Benoit is watching the Germany vs Australia match – he tells me that I’m going to be seeing quite a lot of football in the next couple of weeks. Apparently there’s some big competition on or something.
Addition: 24th June – still haven’t had a chance to post this. Still finding the food unappetising (though Elizabeth cooked a lasagne on Sunday which was AMAZING) but have recovered some of my energy. Decisions to do with staff issues have been quite difficult, but a decision (which I believe is right) has been taken and the situation can be finished with. Am glad that I’m only in a support position at the moment – I can practice separating my emotions from my ‘head’!
Addition: 25th June – I went to the internet café yesterday and was just about to post this when the electricity went. So I’ve come again, and I’d just opened up google when the electricity went. I’ll contact you all some time….
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